Sprawl and Politics is a political history of the origin, enactment, and implementation of Maryland's well-known Smart Growth and Neighborhood Conservation initiative. It is an insider's look at the political pressures and decisions made by Parris N. Glendening, the former governor of Maryland, and his top staff as they worked to enact and implement a new program to manage growth and curtail sprawl. The book traces the evolution of the Smart Growth program from its substantive underpinnings to the political and public relations strategies needed to assure the program's adoption.

Known around the country almost immediately after it was enacted, the program's incentive-based approach served as a model for other states struggling with growth pressures but reluctant to regulate land use. With a perspective only a participant could provide, John W. Frece examines the incidents, issues, pressures, and personalities responsible for shaping the program as well as the challenges faced putting the ideas into practice.